Number of MENA online shopping transactions increase by 44%

The number of online shopping transactions in the Middle East and North Africa surged by 44% year-on-year last year, as the region’s fast-paced e-commerce sector continues to expand, according to research announced this week by digital payments Visa.

“Our data shows that MENA e-commerce recorded double-digit growth in 2018, led by 27% increase in payment volume and 44% increase in online transactions over 2017,” Marcello Baricordi, Visa’s general manager for the Middle East and North Africa, was quoted as saying in a press statement earlier this week.

The region’s e-commerce sector has been growing rapidly and is expected to be worth $48 billion by 2022, with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia driving its 16.4% growth over the next few years, according to last year’s Fitch Solutions report.

“The economic opportunity to be gained by modernizing the e-commerce experience is massive for both merchants and banks,” Baricordi added.

Despite this rapid growth, Malik Shehab, founder of perfume and beauty platform Golden Scent, told Arabian Business in January there was still massive potential in the sector.

“E-commerce in the GCC is relatively small compared to other regions around the world, since it’s a new market. [It’s] still growing and improving day by day to deliver a better and richer experience to the customer. So there is still much room for space and more players,” he said.

Golden Scent is a Saudi-based platform operating across the Gulf which was founded by Shehab and co-founder Ronny Froehlich in 2014.